When you need to move extremely fast, you may need a quick and dirty executive onboarding checklist. While most of the time taking the time to think things through and then pause to accelerate is the right approach, enough people have asked for this simple checklist for me to include it here to help you think through 1) stakeholders and approach, 2) positioning and message, 3) first steps: Ultra Simple New Leader’s Checklist I           STAKEHOLDERS and APPROACH Identify all the key stakeholders up, across and down. Understand their working context. Decide how you want to enter or take over: assimilating in, converging and evolving, or shocking. II         POSITIONING and MESSAGE Be deliberate about how to position yourself, your message and communication points – which will evolve as you learn – starting to answer everyone’s fist question (What does this mean for me?) III        FIRST STEPS Deliberately plan out and implement:

  • Things to set yourself and your family up for success personally and professionally
  • The announcement cascade – who hears what, when
  • Whom you’ll meet before you start
  • Day one communication, meetings, activities
  • Early days’ relationship building
  • Steps to accelerate, evolve or change strategic, organizational and operational processes on the way to early wins and an initial role sort

Click here for an editable Word version of this list. Or, better yet, click here for an editable Word version of the full New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan tool. Ultra Simple New Leader’s Checklist with Explanation Same checklist as above. This time with more explanations. I           STAKEHOLDERS and APPROACH Identify all the key stakeholders up, across and down. Understand their working context. Decide how you want to enter or take over: assimilating in, converging and evolving, or shocking.

  1. Context – How much change is needed in this organization – from less need to strong need?
  2. Culture – How ready to change are the people in the organization – from not ready to ready to change?
  3. Organization, role, and personal risk – Low, manageable, mission-crippling, insurmountable

Blend 1, 2 & 3 to determine Leadership approach:

Assimilate | Converge & Evolve (Fast or Slow) | Shock

II         POSITIONING and MESSAGE Be deliberate about how to position yourself, your message and communication points – which will evolve as you learn – starting to answer everyone’s fist question (What does this mean for me?) Message. Note the Platform for change, Vision, and Call to action are your raw data to inform your Headline and Communication points. Focus on ideas first, words later. Platform for change: WHY must we/can we change? Look to external situation or ambition changes/purpose e.g. Covid-19 has disrupted our business model. Vision: WHAT. Brighter future that we can picture ourselves in. What will success look like? e.g. Leading the way with a blend of live and virtual delivery Call to action: HOW. Actions we can take to get there? e.g. 1) ID customer pain points. 2) Rank order products/services. 3) Transition them to virtual in that order. Headline: The overarching bumper sticker / organizing concept. (1-5 words) The strategic core idea underpinning how you influence how others feel in what you say and do. The idea is more important than the specific words. Main communication points – The 3 main points: III        FIRST STEPS Deliberately plan out and implement:

  • Things to set yourself and your family up for success personally and professionally. This includes things to get family set if moving, office needs like internet, computer, phone, passwords
  • The announcement cascade – who hears what, when, keeping in mind that those emotionally impacted should find out one-on-one ahead of others, those directly impacted should find out in a small group so they can ask questions before the larger group indirectly impacted finds out in a mass communication.
  • Whom you’ll meet before you start – the few most critical stakeholders
  • Day one communication, meetings, activities potentially including broad meet and greet welcome, peer alignment, new leader assimilation, and message in action sessions, live site visits and phone or video calls.
  • Early days’ relationship building – because early on this is by far the most important thing.
  • Steps to accelerate, evolve or change strategic, organizational and operational processes on the way to early wins and an initial role sort, potentially including an imperative workshop, milestone management kick-off, early win kick-off.

In either case, you’re not done when the checklist is done. Keep learning. Keep adjusting. Click here for a categorized list of my Forbes articles (of which this is #838) I focus on executive onboarding and transition acceleration. Click on these links for free executive summaries of my books: “The New Leader’s 100-Day Action Plan” and “The Merger & Acquisition Leader’s Playbook Follow me on Twitter.